Film Critic | "The Godfather of Tokyo": Because this is a clear night

" Tokyo Godfather " is the work of Jin Min when he entered his middle age and occupies a unique position in his works. Compared with Jin Min's other three animated films, "Tokyo Godfather" was completed by Jin Min himself from the story script to the character setting, which is a completely original work. In addition, unlike the other three works that are dominated by camera techniques and narrative structure, because "The Godfather of Tokyo" focuses on the shaping of the story itself and the character's personality, this work is a new attempt by Jin Min to enter middle age, and it is also considered to be a The least Jin-min style of work. Although the expression technique of "interlacing dreams and reality" in previous works is not seen in this work, the descriptions of marginal characters are very eye-catching, making the whole film full of tearful smiles and bitter warmth.

In modern Japan, due to the influence of the developed material civilization and Western civilization, the traditional views on religion, life and death, and the consciousness of others have been gradually forgotten, marginalized or even abandoned. Jin Min is deeply aware of this, so he uses "Tokyo Godfather" to show those people and things that have been forgotten or abandoned by modern Japanese , re-examine modern society and modern people from an external perspective, and show the spiritual life of modern Japanese people side.

Stories in the night

The Japanese have always been reluctant to mention the floating population of homeless in China, but director Jin Min turned three of this group into the protagonists of the movie , and discussed the three The background of the homeless people and the real reasons that make them homeless. Jin Min issued an accusation against the "absurd" real world from the tragic past and real situation of the three of them, and carried out introspection on the emotional indifference and moral decay between people in modern society.

Movie narratives follow a causal structure, and The Godfather of Tokyo is no exception.Judging from the context of the film's storyline, the "cause" of the film is that three homeless picked up the abandoned baby on Christmas Eve, and the "fruit" is that the three people not only found the real parents for the abandoned baby and became the abandoned baby The godfather of , , has also completed a baptism in his life. From a structural point of view, the film is not simply a story of finding the parents of abandoned babies. It contains the life history of the three protagonists , and shows how the three protagonists complete their spiritual baptism in the form of "on the road". In the film, when dealing with the past lives of the three protagonists, time is used very cleverly: various imagery is used to complete the flashback. Like most Japanese films, it wasn't decorated with a happy ending, and the filmmakers put the question in front of the audience and let everyone decide how things would go. Through these three homeless people, it alludes to the overall reality of modern Japanese society, the cruelty of economic changes and the bitter life of the bottom people.

Crowds in the Night

"The Godfather of Tokyo" is unprecedented in its detailed depiction of the inner world of the three homeless people. Even compared with a live-action drama, it is not inferior. Jin Min has given this small group a new art. life. The survival dilemma of

characters is reflected in Jin Min's four animated films. People live in society, and they themselves have to bear the dual pressures of family and society. In the face of adversity and choices, the characters in "The Godfather of Tokyo" chose to obey from the beginning. In "The Godfather of Tokyo", the reason why the three homeless people are reduced to wandering streets is the performance of compromising against adversity.Lao Jin's addiction to gambling ruined the originally happy family; the relationship between Miyuki and her father was tense. As a policeman, her father privately disposed of 's daughter's pet, depriving Miyuki of her right to speak, and stabbing her father in a conflict was Miyuki to herself The defense of rights violated the norms of human ethics and morality. Miyuki couldn't forgive her father but she couldn't forgive herself. In order to escape all this, she chose to run away from home; Ah Hua's job was to sing and perform in a gay bar. There was a conflict between the guests and he couldn't explain to the boss who kindly took him in, so he could only leave quietly under the dilemma. It can be seen from this that their wandering is not their original intention, but an escape from reality.

Jin Min is always besieged by all kinds of characters in the predicament of survival and the spiritual trap, unable to break free, and suffers from the destruction of reality and emotional torture. The characters who choose to obey the first time have their personalities transformed when the second adversity comes, and they begin to fight. So, in "The Godfather of Tokyo", the three people who accepted the fate of the homeless at the beginning changed, and began to run for Kiyoko to find her biological parents. The characters' struggle comes from questioning the self. "Self" is a measure based on the standards of the community, the "self" in the eyes of others, not the self in my mind. Although the questions of "who am I" and "what do I want" have been lingering in my mind, this question is only urgent when the future and destiny are faced with a choice. In "The Godfather of Tokyo", the arrival of Kiyoko brings about such a transformation. The alcoholic Lao Jin began to take responsibility. While taking care of Qingzi, he began to miss his daughter. After encountering his daughter, he also showed the guilt of a father for his daughter. When Ah Hua had nothing to do, he went back to find his former boss, and found that the things he had always cared about had actually passed away, and the boss's tolerance allowed him to find his own harbor.And Miyuki, after encountering her father and running away, found the missing person notice posted by her father, so she began to forgive her father. This is the struggle of fringe who struggled in adversity. In this clear night, they met Qingzi and themselves.

Two-way interaction shaped by gender of marginal characters

Gender role is an important concept of social gender theory. The female characters of "softness with rigidity", the male characters of "hardness with softness" and the transgender characters of "combination of rigidity and softness" appear in Jin Min's animation films, which are separated from the common gender construction of traditional Japanese animation films. Sexual framework, showing the two-way interaction of the gender of the characters.

Miyuki who is "soft with rigidity": The women in Toshi Kon's animation films cannot be classified into ordinary Japanese animations. They are women of the new era who inherit the excellent qualities of traditional Japanese women and have the excellent qualities of traditional Japanese men. The character is "soft with firmness". For example, Miyuki read parenting guides in order to take care of Kiyoko, Chiba Toko helped Tokita who was trapped in the elevator, and the love of this type of woman for others is hidden in the details.

"Rigid and Soft" Lao Jin: The male characters in Kon-Min animation films are different from the male characters in general Japanese animation. There is no absolute "defender" in Jinmin's animated films. The men in the film also have a weak and sensual side under their strong and brave appearance. In "Tokyo Godfather", Lao Jin is afraid of being bullied by Miyuki, and tells other homeless people in the city that Miyuki is his daughter, which reflects his kindness. First of all, men's "softness" is reflected in the evasion of responsibility and surrender to difficulties. Lao Jin, for example, backed down several times while helping abandoned babies find their biological parents. Secondly, the "softness" of men is also expressed as sympathy for others. For example, Lao Jin blames himself for discovering that the baby was miscarried.Thirdly, the "softness" of men is reflected in the passiveness of feelings. For example, Lao Jin's series of reactions after seeing his daughter.

"Hard and soft" transgender Ahua: In addition to males and females, there are also transgender characters. In the movie "The Godfather of Tokyo", a transgender character A Hua appeared. Ah Hua is a transgender who is male and female. A Hua's physical features are a combination of masculine and feminine : tall and burly, with a square face, full of stubble, feminine makeup and refined clothing. First of all, Ah Hua is compassionate and motherly. He pity Lao Jin lost his family, pity Miyuki homeless, often crying because he pity others. Secondly, Ah Hua is brave and tenacious. He persevered in the goal he had identified, insisted on sending Qingzi back to his biological parents, and jumped out regardless of his own safety when Qingzi fell from the roof. He has been an orphan since he was a child, and as a transgender, he also knows that people around him regard him as a freak, and he still faces his true desires without pretense or inferiority. Seemingly independent, joyous and sorrowful, but very brave and firm.

Jin Min is objective when portraying Ah Hua, unreservedly showing people's prejudice against transgender people in reality, and also showing Ah Hua's tenacity, bravery and sparkling motherhood. The male, female, and transgender characters in Kim's animated films are both masculine and feminine.

color language

From the perspective of tones , it is not difficult to find that Jin Min's animated film works are not difficult to find, no matter from the character modeling design or the environmental design, the artistic style of "Tokyo Godfather" has its own unique style.With the development of the plot, the tone of the film also changed. When Lao Jin and his daughter recognized each other, Jin Min abandoned the overall dark style of the film and switched to a warm tone of light pink, which emphasized the psychological situation of the protagonist at that time. When the three chase the child, as the chase becomes more intense, the tone of the film changes from a deep grey to a red that can bring excitement and anger. As the film draws to a close and reaches a moral climax when the child's parents intend to make Lao Jin and Ah Hua their child's godfather, the tones change to bright, predominantly white tones.

To sum up, "The Godfather of Tokyo" is undoubtedly a film worthy of our study and research, no matter from the perspective of social reality, his characterization, artistic style, or his narrative skills. Director Jin Min's works are the same as his name, "Jin", which focuses on reality and describes people's ambivalence and reality in modern cities; "Min", not only keenly penetrates into all corners of life, but also uses meticulous attention to detail. to describe the characters in the play. Perhaps, the shaping of these marginal characters is the tenderness in Jin Min's heart. In these simple and mediocre marginal people, we can see Jin Min's reflection on social and human nature and human concern, and we can also see a piece of art that belongs to Jin Min. 's hope.

On this clear night, Jin Min found them flickering in the dark. Because it's a clear night, we can look forward to it like the people on these nights.

text / Deng Yiren

editor / Xiao Yang

The pictures in this article are all from the Internet